washington went over the fiscal cliff last night, triggering tax increases for virtually everybody. and despite some hopeful signs very early this morning, we are still in a free fall. it sure looked like a done deal. >> the yeahs are 89. the nays are 8. the bill as amended is passed. >> reporter: after 2:00 a.m. this morning, the senate approved a bill to prevent massive tax increases from going into affect today. the kind of overwhelming bipartisan vote almost never seen anymore. >> so, it took an imperfect solution to prevent our constituents from a very real financial pain. but in my view, it was worth the effort. >> reporter: finally, it seemed, washington was working. vice president joe biden and republican leader mitch mcconnell hashing out the deal late last night. >> really very good about how this vote is going to go. >> reporter: he had reason to smile last night, but today, that late night deal hit a wall of republican opposition in the house. hastily leaving a meeting of house republicans today, eric cantor, the second highest ranking republican in the house, announced